Just Maybe
by JjongandMe
Summary: Tony was never the one to keep a promise. It was something he didn't really care about. So what if he broke the promise not to drink any more? He could fix that. So what if he broke the promise not to cheat on girls any more? He could fix that. He, however, couldn't fix his relationship with Pepper if there was nothing left to fix. Warnings inside.
1. Chapter 1

_Just Maybe_

Warnings: Language and Tony.

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Tony was never the one to keep a promise. It was something he didn't really care about.

So what if he broke the promise not to drink anymore? He could fix that.

So what if he broke the promise not to cheat on girls anymore? He could fix that.

He, however, couldn't fix his relationship with Pepper if there was nothing left to fix.

Pepper was so patient with him, so much more patient than so many other people have been. Tony appreciated that, he appreciated _her, _but appreciation isn't enough.

Tony tried to reason with her, because she was the closest thing to a girlfriend that Tony would probably ever have. But she didn't listen.

At first, Tony was mad. Why wouldn't she listen? It wasn't his goddamn fault he couldn't find time for her in his schedule. He was too busy saving the world and shit! In fact, she should be _glad _Tony had even called Pepper his girlfriend.

He was wrong. So _fucking _wrong.

It _wasn't _her fault. It was his, as much as he didn't want to admit it. Pepper left him for a reason, but by the end of the day, Tony still didn't know what that reason was.

Maybe it was the fact that Tony started getting drunk every night again. Or maybe it was because Tony was found cheating on her twice.

Pepper left in a huff, making Tony wonder for the first time if it was his fault or hers. Tears still stained the bed where the two were sitting just minutes ago.

And Tony was still sitting there in a daze, realizing that his best friend and personal secretary left him for the first time.

He couldn't sleep that night at all. Maybe it was the lack of Pepper next to him. Or maybe it was the absence of her light breathing beside him.

Tony thought of all sorts of possibilities why he was feeling so heartbroken, but none of them made sense except for the explanation that _he cared for her._

He hadn't cared for anybody else before. Sure, it would matter to him if his friends died, but it wouldn't have that much of impact on him.

Tony would probably mourn for a little while, maybe have one or two sleepless night, but at the end of it all he'd be fine.

That wouldn't happen if Pepper left him, though. He would mourn for a long ass time, have no sleep at all, and at the end of it all he'd be broken inside.

He hated having to deal with all of this. Why wouldn't Pepper just come back and give him another chance?

But Pepper _had _given him one chance, and another chance, hell; she gave him more chances than allowed.

He broke her trust and he didn't deserve her anymore.

Tony hated it, but it was true. Pepper left, leaving him behind to wallow in his own shame.

And fuck, it was so unfair. He wanted to try again, damn it, but he couldn't. No matter how many times he would ask for Pepper back, she never would come back.

All of it was so _damn _unfair. Why couldn't he be a good person for once? But it was his fault, wasn't it?

Not Pepper's, not his friend's, it was his fault entirely.

He hated it.

Tony hated a lot of things right now. Currently the thing he despised the most was himself.

Unknown to him, he was still awake at 3:00 thinking about Pepper. How much he wanted her back.

So he crawled out of his bed and went to get a cup of coffee. Honestly, it was pretty normal for him to be awake at this time. Maybe that's why the security patrol didn't question his motives at 3:00AM in the morning.

He bumped into Pepper on the way there. The two passed each other wordlessly, leaving Tony in another shock.

It was _not _normal for _her_ to awake at this time. She usually slept at 11:00PM, 12:00 at the latest. But 3:00AM for her? Unheard of.

And she was looking like, frankly, shit. Her eyes were all puffy and she was carrying a tissue in her hands.

Tony decided that it was either hormones or the argument they had earlier.

It was probably the argument.

He didn't want to admit it, though; that he was responsible for Pepper crying at 3:00AM in the morning.

Tony carried his coffee to his room, _his _room, when just a few hours ago it was _their _room.

Fuck, he was remembering everything now, wasn't he?

How he cheated on her, how she had found him with another girl in _their _room twice. Tony complained the first time. "It wasn't my fault! She forced me to do it!" The girl with charged with sexual harassment and rape two days later.

The second time he decided to say nothing when Pepper came in, screaming and crying. "Fuck you Tony! This is the fucking second time!" She took a deep breath and then became deadly calm. "Get out." Pepper glared at the girl.

The girl scrambled out of the room, grabbing her clothes with her.

"Tony, what the fuck are you doing?" Pepper blurted out, but as soon as the words were out, more followed, equally hurtful. "I put my heart into taking care of you, making sure you're safe, making sure you aren't hurt. And after all of that, you still manage to cheat on me _twice_?"

"I think you're forgetting about the first time. You said that girl forced you to do it, and I genuinely believed you. So I pressed charges against her. That girl, her name was Caroline. You know what she confessed to me? _'I didn't do it. _He _made me do it. I swear to God.' _And now, I believe her more then you."

She heaved a sobbing breath. "She said I ruined her life. Now Caroline is in jail, unable to see her fiancé and lover of five years; all because of one lie, Tony. You lied to me too, remember? The first time, after the incident with Caroline, you promised me that it would never happen again."

Tony stayed silent, guilt settling at the pit of his stomach.

"Well, look at us now." Pepper laughed humourlessly. "This is the second time you cheated on me. Maybe I'm not good enough for you."

And that was when Tony finally spoke.

"Pepper; I love you, and you know that. It's just that... I couldn't help myself, and... Give me another chance, please?" Tony looked at her, eyes hopeful.

His secretary visibly hesitated. She looked ready to say yes, but instead she barked, "No. No more chances, Tony. I'm leaving. Good night." Pepper got up, wiping her hand over her eyes.

So that's how Tony managed to break up with his girlfriend, secretary, and friend.

Maybe that's why the room felt colder, even with the steaming coffee in his hand.

Maybe he would find someone else. Probably not, though. Nobody would have as much patience as Pepper.

Tony found himself accepting that.

So maybe, Tony would stay with the guilt in the pit of his stomach forever.

Tony found himself accepting that, too.

But for now, this was his fate. And just maybe, it wouldn't be that bad.

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A/N: I decided to take a break from Clintasha and all that stuff and write another fanfiction with Tony and Pepper for once. This is one of my older ones, but I edited a lot of the parts that were... my old writing, I guess? I only expect to put two or three chapters into this one, though I plan to put a lot of better writing into it.

Hope to see you guys around! Please review if you have those extra two minutes, it'll help me a lot and it'll make me feel happy and more loved.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Warnings: Tony and language.

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It had been a year and two months since Tony had a stable relationship, and to be honest, Tony was pretty damn happy about it.

After what happened with Pepper, Tony found out he just wasn't good with long-term relationships. Short-term relationships? Sure. One night stands? Of course. But long-term relationships? No way, not anymore.

Of course there was guilt at first, but Tony figured, why did it matter to him? It did matter to him. A lot, actually. She was the love of his life, and again she managed to slip away.

But Tony wouldn't let that show. He would go on with his life without a care, because fuck it, he was a grown man.

He wouldn't let his hurt and pain show, wouldn't let the impenetrable armor Iron Man be broken. Maybe the armor would break one day, but Tony wanted it to break to battle, not to his own feelings.

He hated it.

Tony couldn't let himself break down because he was a public figure, a person that citizens look up to. If he cried and wept like a baby, people would stop looking up to him as a hero.

But maybe it wouldn't be that bad. Tony never thought about not being a hero anymore since he had sort of grown into being Iron Man. The suit grew with him.

So Pepper came back to him to be his secretary, and only his secretary. The two hadn't publicly announced their breakup, but it was becoming blatantly obvious.

The two stayed away from each other so much that even in a meeting; Pepper would sit as far away from Tony as possible.

Tony never gave small kisses on her cheek in public anymore. Pepper stopped standing next to him during news interviews. And Tony was fine with that.

For a while, at least.

The guilt was dragging him down, sure, but he didn't care that much anymore. With every glass from his bar, another piece of guilt was gone. But the guilt was coming back faster than he could get rid of it.

He honestly wanted Pepper back. Maybe she would come back one day, but not any day soon.

Or that's what he thought.

When the Mandarin declared war on Tony and America, Pepper came back, asking and begging if she could protect him again.

"Please, let me come back. I don't want you to be hurt anymore, Tony. Please." Pepper begged, tears streaming down her flushed cheeks. Being the big teddy bear Tony is, he accepted.

At first, Tony was tempted to say no, but he _needed _her back. It wasn't a want, it was a need.

Everything went out of control the moment he gave his address out on live television, and Tony mused to himself that it was probably a bad decision to do so.

The guilt had been put aside for adrenaline, and for a while, it was all _fine_. Until they took Pepper. And then shit got serious.

Tony didn't want to think about how he _failed _her. He honestly doubted that Pepper would be that strong and resist being turned into a weapon used for A.I.M. He was wrong about her.

It was hilarious to learn something new about Pepper when Tony thought he knew everything about her.

But as Tony told JARVIS to use the "Clean Slate" protocol, he wondered if he made the wrong call. It was amusing, Tony thought, to see each part of Iron Man being destroyed as fireworks.

The armour was gone, and it went out with a bang like Iron Man would have liked.

Pepper was delighted to see Tony be Tony again. Under the suit was a billionaire genius playboy philanthropist who loved Pepper and _only _Pepper now.

So as the two of them stood there on the oil rig, Tony _knew _he made the right decision. There was no way Pepper would have come back if he didn't destroy the suits.

Pepper had surgery first to remove all of the chemicals A.I.M put into her. It took seven hours, four doses of morphine and two teams of surgeons. While they were at it, they removed Tony's arc reactor too. After all, the armor was gone. There was no more purpose for the reactor anymore.

After the surgeries, Tony and Pepper flew back to New York to their rightful home, Stark Towers.

Tony knew exactly what to do, what he _needed _to do in order to have a fresh beginning. He rushed down the stairs into his lab where the Mark VIII was kept.

'_Well, Tony, this is the last suit of Iron Man alive. All of the prototypes and blueprints will be discarded. Are you sure you want to do this?' _With a shake of his head, Tony smirked. He couldn't go back now. He made up his mind when he told the surgeons to remove the arc reactor.

With an air of confidence, Tony told JARVIS to incinerate the Mark VIII. He made his way up to _their _room and joined Pepper on the bed. The two fell asleep immediately, safe in each other's arms.

The first interview he went to after the last suit was destroyed, the biggest question there was, "Why did you destroy them?"

Tony just smiled grimly and said with loudness behind it, "_I _am Iron Man." And he just couldn't help noticing the way Pepper stood by his side with a light smile on her face.

Just maybe, it wouldn't be that bad being a normal person and not Iron Man.

Maybe Pepper would stay with him for the rest of his life. A year after the suits were destroyed, it was no longer a maybe. The engagement ring on Pepper's left hand proved that.

The crazy adventure would come to an end eventually, and Tony would be okay with that.

And just maybe the two would be together in heaven or hell. Maybe they would be together forever.

But for now, Tony and Pepper were engaged, sitting together in Stark Towers and just maybe, the two would have a great life ahead of them, even without Iron Man.

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A/N: The second part of the two shot! Sorry if I rushed a few things, I just want to get to work on some other one-shots / multi-chapters. I'll try to be better with my timing next time, I promise!

Anyways, review if you can and if you have those extra few minutes to spare. It helps me become better in my writing and also makes me feel less alone in my life.


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